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Westernport is a town that few people have heard of – once thriving, the population is now less than 2000. It is both a real place and, for me growing up in urban Baltimore, a mythical place. It is the birthplace of my grandmother and as a young child I heard endless stories about the mountains, the town, the mines and how our family survived hardship. It is a town that lies hidden deep in the Allegheny Mountains of western Maryland. Like many towns in the region, coal is still extracted from the earth by successive generations of men who toil daily in the mines. My great grandfather was a coal miner who died at a young age from coal workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung disease). The project, which began as an exploration of my family history, has evolved into a deeper photographic encounter with the region, the desolately beautiful land and those who still call Westernport their home.

Westernport is a town that few people have heard of – once thriving, the population is now less than 2000. It is both a real place and, for me growing up in urban Baltimore, a mythical place. It is the birthplace of my grandmother and as a young child I heard endless stories about the mountains, the town, the mines and how our family survived hardship. It is a town that lies hidden deep in the Allegheny Mountains of western Maryland. Like many towns in the region, coal is still extracted from the earth by successive generations of men who toil daily in the mines. My great grandfather was a coal miner who died at a young age from coal workers' pneumoconiosis (black lung disease). The project, which began as an exploration of my family history, has evolved into a deeper photographic encounter with the region, the desolately beautiful land and those who still call Westernport their home.

Coal, as it comes out of the underground mine. Coal worker's pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) is on the rise again in the US. There is no specific treatment for this chronic illness that is caused by inhaling coal dust over time.

A family on their porch in Montcoal West Virginia. They live a couple of miles from the Upper Big Branch Mine, where 29 miners died underground from unsafe working conditions in 2010. They felt the tremors from the explosion in their home when the explosion happened.